Imperial food from the Ming and pre- Ming dynasties has mostly disappeared by today. What has been preserved is the Qing Dynasty imperial cuisine because its cooks passed down their knowledge and skills, and because the palace kept dietetic records.

　　General Feng Yuxiang (1882 - 1948) drove Puyi (1906 - 1967), the last Qing emperor, out of the Forbidden City in 1924 and disbanded the imperial garden, was opened to the public in 1925. Former cooks of the Qing imperial kitchen, Sun Shaoran, Wang Yushan, Wen Baotian, Niu Wenzhi, and Zhao Yongshou, then opened a tea – house in Beihai Park with help from Zhao Renzhai, former chief of the palace vegetable storehouse. Their teahouse was named Fangshan, which means imitation imperial food. They specialized in making and selling the orthodox pastries of the Qing Palace. From making and selling tea, pastries, and refreshments, Fangshan gradually evolved into serving the traditional dishes of the Qing Palace. Many literati and tourists dined at the restaurant out of admiration for their imperial dishes. The restaurant soon became famous throughout the city because of its fresh raw materials, excellent cooking, and unique flavors.

　　The Fangshan Restaurant is located in Yilantang Hall on the north side of the Jade Isle, where Empress Dowager Cixi (1835 - 1908) used to take her meals after sight – seeing in the park. The food made in the Qing Palace for the emperors was called imperial food, so a restaurant operating outside the palace making and selling imperial food was only an imitation.

　　The restaurant’s staple food was cooked wheaten products, such as baked sesame seed cakes with fried minced-meat filling and pastries shaped like apple, peach, fingered citron, and lucky rolls. Whatever wheaten food you ate, you received a good luck message: apple – all is well; peach – longevity, you will live a long life; lucky rolls – everything is fine.

　　The pastries included steamed corn-flour cake, rolls of kidney bean flour, and mashed pea cake, which were all favorites of Empress Dowager Cixi. The most sumptuous food at Fangshan Restaurant was their Manchu and Han banquet. These dishes have the flavors of the Beijing cuisine palace dishes.